Fall Arts Preview: Theater

Tuesday

Theater season looks wicked-good: Boston area still benefits from great mix of commercial and nonprofit offerings

Theater season looks wicked-good: Boston area still benefits from great mix of commercial and nonprofit offerings

Wow. More than 30 shows get mentioned in this preview of the fall theater season. And that’s just for shows running between now and Thanksgiving. And this listing is far from complete. But it’s not so much the quantity of shows that’s so impressive, it’s the quality. So you may want to grab your calendar and make a few notes as you read about the remarkably wide range of shows — everything from returning favorites to some intriguing world premieres.

I’m a wicked big fan of “Wicked.” And I think the advertising campaign in Boston should be, “It’s Wicked pissah.” Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, which was a clever re-imagining of “The Wizard of Oz” told with plenty of interesting back-story, “Wicked” features laughs, spectacle and fun characters. The show runs Sept. 12 to Nov. 11 at the Opera House in Boston.

Speaking of being wicked, it doesn’t get much more wicked than “Sweeney Todd,” Stephen Sondheim’s musical based on the legendary “demon barber,” a man with a taste for revenge and a neighbor who’ll help him in his plot to serve London’s upper crust. This national tour, starring Tony Award-winner Judy Kaye, starts at the Colonial Theatre in Boston (Oct. 23 to Nov. 4).

If you need something a little gentler after “Sweeney Todd,” checkout the return of “Mamma Mia!” (Nov. 27 to Dec. 16, at the Colonial). ABBA’s hits are tied together with a fun and clever story of a mom preparing for her daughter’s wedding.

Boston seems like the right place for “American Twistory,” an amusing, multi-media, musical look at our nation’s history. Expect appearances from George Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elvis, and many others. At The Tremont Cabaret Theatre, in Boston, starting Sept. 27.

Audiences get the chance to enjoy the seven-decade career of music great Irving Berlin with “I Love a Piano.” The national tour launches Sept. 21-30 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, in Boston.

And speaking of Irving Berlin, is it too early to be thinking about the holidays? Let’s hope so. But “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” plays Nov. 23 to Dec. 23 at the Wang Theatre in Boston.

Is it possible that the biggest show of the Huntington Theatre Company’s season isn’t at the B.U. Theatre, but rather at the Boston Center for the Arts? Maybe. Especially if you’re a fan of local playwright (and rising star) Ronan Noone. Or if you’re a fan of actor-director Campbell Scott. They’re teaming up for “The Atheist” (Sept. 12-30), a comedy about a crooked journalist (it’s hard to believe they exist) who gets more than he bargains for when he turns a politician’s tawdry life into front page news.

You could call it a celebration of Noone’s work at the Huntington this fall. After “The Atheist,” Noone’s “Brendan” goes up at the BCA, Oct. 12-Nov. 17. “Brendan” is the story of, well, Brendan, a recent Irish immigrant who now calls Boston home. He’s trying to become part of his new hometown, Boston, while searching for love and meaning.

On the Huntington’s main stage, the season opens with “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps” (Sept. 14 - Oct. 14) the stage play that apparently draws its inspiration from the first-rate 1939 mystery film by Hitchcock. The Huntington promises a hilarious whodunit, a spy thriller with just a dash of Monty Python.

In David Rabe’s “Streamers,” four young soldiers wait anxiously in 1965 Virginia, watching the Vietnam conflict escalate. As they struggle to make sense of their new lives in the army, tensions rise over race, sexuality, and class, culminating in an explosive act that changes them forever. It plays Nov. 9 to Dec. 12.

Robert Woodruff is no longer the artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge. But those who presumed that meant a tamer season of shows may be surprised to see the challenging work scheduled for this season.

They’re already up and running with “Don Juan Giovanni” and “Figaro,” two operas from Theatre de la Jeune Lune that are running in repertory, now through Oct. 6 at the Loeb Drama Center, in Cambridge. They promise to be two challenging shows that marry the works of some of history’s great artists — Moliere, Beaumarchais and Mozart.

After acting in a production of “The Vagina Monologues,” Adelheid Roosen decided to interview Muslim women about their sexuality, and turned their responses into “The Veiled Monologs,” a vital and poetic portrait of relationships and love under Islam. It plays Oct. 16-21 at ART’s Zero Arrow Theatre, in Cambridge.

“Donnie Darko” (Oct. 27-Nov. 18, Zero Arrow) is an interesting pick. Can the cult fave 2001 film translate to the stage? Adapter-director Marcus Stern, working from Richard Kelly’s screenplay, gives it a shot. The troubled teen hero of the story has become an icon for a generation, so the play just may pull in that coveted younger audience.

“Copenhagen” may be a slightly safer choice than we’re used to seeing at the ART. This is Michael Frayn’s play that imagines what happened during the historic meeting between brilliant physicists Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr in the heat of World War II. The cast: local favorites Will LeBow, Karen McDonald and John Kuntz. It plays Nov. 24 to Dec. 23 at the Loeb Drama Center.

For a sampling of some of the most interesting and exciting performances artists in the country, check out “Sxip’s Hour of Charm” (Sept. 14-30, Zero Arrow Theatre). It’s three weekends of songwriters, circus artists, aerialists, comics and more.

At the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, ask not for whom the Southern belle tolls, she tolls for thee. New Rep opens its season with “A Streetcar Named Desire” (Sept. 12-Oct. 7), the Tennessee Williams classic about Blanche DuBois, who has always depended on the kindness of strangers. That hasn’t worked out too well for her.

Based on real events, Thomas Gibbons’ new play “A House with No Walls” (Oct. 24-Nov. 18) enters an emotional minefield when two opposing African-American politicians weigh in on how to honor both American liberty and the memory of the nine slaves who lived in the eight-by-eight foot quarters on site.

The untimely death of writer-composer Jonathan Larson hangs over every production of his musical “Rent.” Well, you’ll find the same is true of “Tick, Tick...Boom!” an earlier work by Larson. This fun little one-act musical is about how there’s no time to waste in life, so do the things you love. A must-see for “Rent” fans. “Tick, Tick,” part of New Rep’s Downstairs @ New Rep program, plays Sept. 22 to Oct. 21.

Artistic director Spiro Veloudos is fond of musicals, and he’s picked a crowd-pleaser to open the season at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston. “Man of La Mancha” (Sept. 7-Oct. 13) tells the tale of idealistic knight Don Quixote’s noble quest to right the world’s wrongs. The show features Christopher Chew (Cervantes) and Robert Saoud (Sancho).

The off-Broadway hit “Dying City” (Oct. 19-Nov. 11) tells the story of an Afghan war widow and her dead husband’s twin brother. They must deal with their loss and confront the secrets of the past. The play serves as a reminder that even dramas that are played out on the world stage are all actually about individuals.

Want something heartwarming and new for the holiday season? “This Wonderful Life” (Nov. 23-Dec. 22) is a re-imagining of Frank Capra’s adored classic Christmas film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” George Bailey, Clarence the Angel, Mary and Old Man Potter all return.

Robert Brustein, founder and former artistic director of the ART, is back, this time wearing the hat of playwright. His new play “The English Channel” (Sept. 6-15) is the story of a young William Shakespeare, tangled up in sexual, artistic and political intrigue. This world premiere plays Sept. 6-15 at the C. Walsh Theatre, at Suffolk University.

Speaking of ART alumni, former ART regular Benjamin Evett’s Actors’ Shakespeare Project continues to roll along. They open their fourth season with an all-female “Macbeth,” in Studio 102 at B.U.’s College of Fine Arts.

Apparently, Harry Shearer wants to be clear: “This is So Not About the Simpsons” is a show in which he and Judith Owen mix music, video and humor to create a commentary on the culture and politics of the country. It plays Oct. 27-28 at the Jewish Theatre of New England in Newton.

The Jewish Theatre follows that up with “The Rosenbach Company: A Tragicomedy,” a pop musical that explores the obsessive nature of collecting, through the story of Abe and Phillip Rosenbach (Nov. 17-18).

If you like shows with energy, The Speakeasy Stage Company’s season opener, “Zanna Don’t” might be the right choice for you. A nominee for Best Off-Broadway Musical, it’s a fairy tale about a matchmaking teen who turns relationships upside down. It plays Sept. 14-Oct 13, at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Charles Dickens died before he finished writing “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” leaving it up to writer Rupert Holmes to solve the problem of how you turn a mystery with no end into a musical. He did it. SpeakEasy stages the show that won Best Musical, Nov. 16-Dec. 15 at the BCA.

In a rare moment of overlap this fall, the Turtle Lane Playhouse in Newton also stages “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” Sept. 14-Oct. 14.

The award-winning Wheelock Family Theatre stages a production of Harper Lee’s masterpiece, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in a production that’s sure to hit the right notes for the entire family. It runs Oct. 26 to Nov. 25, on the campus of Wheelock College.

The Theatre Offensive stages its 16th Annual Out on the Edge Festival, Oct. 20 to Nov. 10 at the Boston Center for the Arts. Get the complete schedule at www.thetheateroffensive.org.

A music tribute called “Remembering the ’40s” plays at the Reagle Players theater in Waltham on Oct. 6. World War II vets are admitted free.

Boston Theatre Works opens things up on a light note. They kick off their 10th anniversary season with “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” It’s the musical that helped make Zero Mostel famous. It plays Sept. 20 to Oct. 20 at the Boston Center for the Arts.

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